Like
Lt Col Harriet J. Papp, USAFR Ret. Oral History
Publication date: 13 August 2024
File metadata
Dublin Core Metadata
title:
Lt Col Harriet J. Papp, USAFR Ret. Oral History
creator:
Papp, Harriet J. (Blain) (1921 October 7 - )
subject:
Army Nurse Corps | Air Force Reserve
description:
Harriet Papp (formerly Blain) was born in Bradgate, Iowa on October 7, 1921 and raised in Mt. Prospect, Illinois. She knew some people in the military, including her brother and many friends and acquaintances who were joining due to World War II. Although she’d never been on a plane, she wanted to be a flight nurse. She enlisted in March 1943 and went to Muroc Army Air Base (now Edwards Air Force Base) in California for basic and flight training. There, she was a general duty nurse and took care of injured and ill soldiers. After training, she was assigned to Welford Park, England with the 9th Air Force Base as part of the 815th Medical Services squadron. From there, she served as a flight nurse during WWII in the European theater for the evacuation of patients from France to England, Paris to New York, and Naples to Casablanca. There were technicians on flights with her, but she was the only nurse on each flight, and sometimes they transported the seriously injured. She mentions that Welford Park was like a country estate, and they spent free time bike riding and fishing. They also operated a small clinic for British patients in the area. She served in the Army Nurse Corps until December 1945, the Army Nurse Corps Reserve from August 1950 to May 1953, and the Air Force Reserve from 1956 to 1974, which included being recalled during the Korean War and a two-week tour in Alaska. Papp left the service with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and for her service she was awarded an Air Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and National Defense Service Medal. No transcript of this interview is currently available.
publisher:
Military Women's Memorial Foundation
contributor:
Unknown
date:
2007-09-02
type:
Moving Image
format:
DVD-R
identifier:
1227; 2007.1227
source:
SAFN | CLIR - Recordings at Risk
language:
English
relation:
070151
coverage:
World War II (1939-1945) | Korean War (1950-1953) | 1942-45 | 1956-74
rights:
Unrestricted